Sad story indeed, but once again a huge daily newspaper in metropolis takes some liberties with their depiction of the victim. The man is a Marine (no such thing as a former Marine). But he was also 68-years at the time of his unfortunate death. How is he depicted? In his dress blues from probably, I don't know 45 years ago? See referecne to Trayvon Martin murder as well.

Kenneth Chamberlain Jr. holds photo of his father, Kenneth Sr., who was shot by police and later died after officers were dispatched to his White Plains home responding to a medical emergency.

What began as a mission of mercy at a public housing project in White Plains ended with police killing the very man they had been dispatched to help.

By the time the rapidly escalating conflict was over, police had zapped a 68-year-old former Marine and correction officer with a stun gun, shot him with a beanbag gun and blasted him twice in the chest. The chronically ill Kenneth Chamberlain Sr. died at White Plains Hospital shortly after the early-morning clash on Nov. 19.

Only now, more than four months after the fact, have authorities finally agreed to convene a grand jury to determine if the cops committed a crime.

Like 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, Chamberlain was African-American, and his death has added fuel to the growing national debate that has flared since the Florida teen was killed on Feb. 26.

As in Florida, the White Plains incident received little press attention for weeks and authorities resisted a grand jury probe.
Since then, accounts have surfaced that at least one officer was heard on a tape hurling racial epithets and taunts in the moments before cops removed Chamberlainâ€™s apartment door from its hinges and burst inside.

During the past several days, nearly 200,000 people have signed an online petition demanding justice in Chamberlainâ€™s case. White Plains Mayor Tom Roach on Friday issued his first public statement of condolences to the dead manâ€™s family.

Thatâ€™s a far different atmosphere and tone than in November.

Back then, police reports stated a deranged man had attacked officers with a hatchet and a knife before cops shot him in self-defense. White Plains Public Safety Commissioner David Chong quickly declared it a â€œwarranted use of deadly force.â€

But as the weeks passed, the official story became riddled with holes.
To begin with, the police who arrived at Chamberlainâ€™s apartment in the Winbrook Houses about 5 a.m. were not responding to a disturbance or a crime in progress.

They were supposed to be there to help the man.

Chamberlain, who lived alone, suffered from a chronic heart condition and wore a pendant to signal LifeAid, a medical alert company, in case of trouble.

That morning, the company called police after the pendant went off and Chamberlain failed to respond to a two-way audiobox installed in his apartment. He appears to have accidentally set off the device while he was sleeping.

A LifeAid employee then requested that a squad car go by the house to check on him.

When police arrived, they started banging on his door. Chamberlain yelled out to them that he was all right, that they werenâ€™t needed.
The dead manâ€™s son, Kenneth Chamberlain Jr., and a pair of lawyers said LifeAidâ€™s audiobox recorded every sound inside the apartment. They listened to the recording in February in the office of Westchester County District Attorney Janet DiFiore, though authorities have not released it publicly.

According to the official police version, the officers heard loud noises inside and thought someone else might be in danger. They said they needed to force their way inside to make sure everything was okay.

But Chamberlain refused to open the door for them, according to the lawyers who listened to the audio recording. He was angry at being disturbed by the loud banging and by several police cars and fire engines. He became increasingly agitated as he saw more police arriving with guns drawn.

A nearly hour-long standoff ensued.

Chamberlainâ€™s niece, Tonyia Greenhill, who lived in an apartment upstairs, came down and tried to talk with police, but was ignored. Her uncle sounded scared and was begging the police through the door to leave him alone, she recalled.

One of the familyâ€™s lawyers is Mayo Bartlett, a former Westchester assistant district attorney. He and the dead manâ€™s son said someone can be heard screaming at Chamberlain on the LifeAid tape:
â€œI donâ€™t give a f--k, n----r, open the door!â€

One of the people banging outside was also reportedly heard yelling: â€œI need to use your bathroom to pee!â€

Others were taunting Chamberlainâ€™s military service after they discovered he was a former Marine.

The LifeAid dispatcher, who was listening to every word of the commotion, offers at one point to contact family members of Chamberlain to intercede, and even tries to cancel the call for police assistance.

But a police officer is heard saying â€œWe donâ€™t need any mediators,â€ according to the lawyers.
Two other video cameras captured part of the events that night, and the family and its lawyers have seen those as well.

One is a security camera in the hall of the building. Another is attached to the stun gun police used.

Those reportedly show police prying the door partly open. At one point, according to Kenneth Chamberlain Jr., a metal object is slipped through the gap in the door and falls in the hallway.

â€œItâ€™s hard to tell what it is, but that could be what police are saying was a hatchet,â€ the son said.

The tape runs for several more minutes while cops and firefighters work to remove the hinges to the door.

When they finally do, a camera reveals Chamberlain Sr. standing inside his apartment, wearing only boxer shorts, with his arms at his side and his hands empty, according to the son and the familyâ€™s lawyers.

â€œThe minute they got in the house, they didnâ€™t even give him one command,â€ Bartlett said. â€œThey never mentioned â€˜put your hands up.â€™ They never told him to lay down on the bed. The first thing they did ... you could see the Taser light up ... and you could see it going directly toward him.â€

Why anyone would use a stun gun on a man with a known heart condition is astounding in itself.

But the cameras donâ€™t capture anything more after that point, according to the son and lawyers. Police say Chamberlain later came at them with a knife, and one cop fired two shots. More than four months after the incident, authorities have refused to identify that cop.

Public Safety Commissioner Chongâ€™s office declined Tuesday to say anything about the case, saying only that thereâ€™s an ongoing investigation.

Late last Thursday, following the national furor over the failure of authorities to take Trayvon Martinâ€™s death to a grand jury, and following weeks of protests by Chamberlainâ€™s family, District Attorney DiFiore met with the dead manâ€™s son and the lawyers.

At last, she confirmed to them that a grand jury will begin hearing evidence in the case this month.

This "testimony" from 101 family members sounds like a really shitty grade-B flick.

Yes, I see police running around screaming the N-Word all the time, taunting old people, making fun of Marines, begging to go pee-pee, whipping out various weapons to blow up old people who are just laying prone in chairs, in their underwear. Yep, this is SOP for the rotten cop bastards.

Sounds like a story written by an angry 10-year-old.

This is what the dems & libs are now. 100% bullshit, hoping it will yield something.

Just like Martin-Zimmerman. It will never be Sweet Little Trayvon's fault for attacking, as long as you've got a massive mob making up new details every day, all day.

This "testimony" from 101 family members sounds like a really shitty grade-B flick.

Yes, I see police running around screaming the N-Word all the time, taunting old people, making fun of Marines, begging to go pee-pee, whipping out various weapons to blow up old people who are just laying prone in chairs, in their underwear. Yep, this is SOP for the rotten cop bastards.

Sounds like a story written by an angry 10-year-old.

This is what the dems & libs are now. 100% bullshit, hoping it will yield something.

Just like Martin-Zimmerman. It will never be Sweet Little Trayvon's fault for attacking, as long as you've got a massive mob making up new details every day, all day.